The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-06-22
KILLING A PET ELEPHANT.
"Bijou" suffer ing with Old Age.



BOSTON, June l9.-Biiou, the great pet
elephant who has for the last two years
heen ON exhibition in the Worlds Mus
cum, on Washington street and previ-
ously was "A resident of the Central Park
menagerie in New York, was given
poison last night. This animal is the
oldest and has been i'm captivity longer
than any elephant ever on exhibition.
Bijou has been in this country for sixty
years, and while he is known to be
sventy-five years old the probabilities are
that he was born nearly hundred years
ago. Recently he had suffered greatly
from old age, and his efforts to stand up
and receive cakes and candies from visi-
tors at the museum as he used 10 were
painful i'm the extreme. In the last two
weeks his massive legs refused 10 sup
port the weight Of his huge body. and
his attempts to respond 10 the call of his
trainer were very affecting. He would
try To raise himself on his knees and
then, reaching his trunk towards his
keeper, the huge beast would settle back
and moan.
The old elephant had also lost his APP
petite and was growing thin. lie found
il hard 20 sleep, and lay awake nights
groaning and in such evident pain that
il was decided To kill him. A box of
chocolate drops saturated with a power
full poison was given Biiou after the mu-
scum closed last night, and in forty-iive
minutes the beast twined his trunk
afTectionately around his keeper and
died. Bijou's body will be buried in an
underground air-tight vat until decom-
position is complete. This will require
some nine months, after which the bones
will he separated, bleached and then
prepared, and in another month the
skeleton will be placed on exhibition at
the Worlds Museum.
Bijou was an African elephant. Sixty
years ago he came Ia this country, since
which time he had Travelled with nearly
every circus on the road. Twenty
times, il is said, his ownership changed
hands. and with each stranded show
poor Bijou would get "A new master.
When a youngster he was owned by
London tavern-keeper who exhibited
him with = pair of immense gorillas In
his tavern, and from there he drifted
across the Continent. When but AN i'm
fant Prince Albert of England rode him
and made him pet. but his after life
was not 50 pleasant.
In 1910 he visited Germany with a
prominent Snowman and tramped back
and forth throughout the world until
1873 and 1874, when he was an attrac-
tion in the Great Eastern Circus. Then
o. i. Older, well known circus man,
purchased him, and later Bob Frier, an
equestrian with Barnum's Circus, broke
him to tricks.
Bijou then went TO California, and at
last drifted back to New York. On the
way home in crossing a bridge Bijou re-
fused, after trying the planking, TO make
the passage. His keepers, IL is claimed,
goaded him on, he took few more steps
and plunged through the rotten boards,
spraining his ankle. and since then has
never been himself.
While in the Central Park menagerie
in New York the agent of the Worlds
Museum bought him. That was two
years ago, and until within three weeks
Bijou was never off his feet, even 10 lie
down. He was considered one Of the
best trick elephants in the country. He
played five tunes on the harp, played ON
the harmonica, stood ON his head and
did the housekeeping business for the
circus with all the intelligence Of his ma
ture. During his sickness he has been
fed largely ON fruit and days allow
ance including two dozen oranges,
twelve loaves of bread, one hundred
and fifty pounds Of hay, half bushel Of
grain and bucket of shorts.
Bijou was valued at $1,000 and was
probably better known throughout this
country than any other elephant ever ON
exhibitation.